]]>https://whyislam.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/%e2%80%8e42-pictures-to-communicate-the-beauty-of-ramadan/feed/0WhyIslamRamadanDivine Speechhttps://whyislam.wordpress.com/2010/09/11/divine-speech/
https://whyislam.wordpress.com/2010/09/11/divine-speech/#commentsSat, 11 Sep 2010 15:04:57 +0000http://whyislam.wordpress.com/?p=451]]>This is a fantastic lecture. It stresses on the point that the Quran is in itself a miraculous book in its linguistic structure. Although Quran does not contradict with science, it’s not a science book. It analyzes the element of speech and evaluates each element against the perception of the Quran from both Muslims and non-Muslims. You can find the second part on youtube.

]]>https://whyislam.wordpress.com/2010/09/11/divine-speech/feed/1WhyIslamReading Arabichttps://whyislam.wordpress.com/2010/08/14/learning-arabic/
https://whyislam.wordpress.com/2010/08/14/learning-arabic/#respondSat, 14 Aug 2010 18:17:56 +0000http://whyislam.wordpress.com/?p=441]]>Through our life, we come with a handful of people who would love to learn Arabic. I thought the lecturer comes from an important angle being a non-native Arabic speaker. I have posted before a link to learning the Arabic alphabets. This a more conventional educational style. The speaker is enthusiastic and the lessons are well organized.

]]>https://whyislam.wordpress.com/2010/08/14/learning-arabic/feed/0WhyIslamMeat in the US – 3https://whyislam.wordpress.com/2010/08/12/meat-in-the-us-3/
https://whyislam.wordpress.com/2010/08/12/meat-in-the-us-3/#respondThu, 12 Aug 2010 17:57:31 +0000http://whyislam.wordpress.com/?p=439]]>As a follow-up, from a recent question I sent to the USDA:

After the animal is rendered immediately unconscious by stunning the next step is usually shackling and hoisting to facilitate bleeding. Animals are bled by cutting the major vessels in the neck and/or thoracic inlet area (corotid artery, jugular vien, and anterior vena cava). Death results from stunning, stunning and bleeding or bleeding depending on stunning method and the species involved. Regardless of the stunning method, the animal is not allowed to return to consciousness. The next slaughter process steps are hide removal and viscera removal.

Why Islam: The answer included: “Death results from stunning, stunning and bleeding or bleeding depending on stunning method and the species involved. “. How is the result of death dependent on the species involved? What would the result of death be for cows or sheep? Stunning or bleeding?

USDA: Carbon dioxide stunning is death inducing in swine. Bleeding is the primary ultimate cause of death in cattle and sheep.

]]>https://whyislam.wordpress.com/2010/08/12/meat-in-the-us-3/feed/0WhyIslamMeat in the US – 2https://whyislam.wordpress.com/2010/08/10/meat-in-the-us-%e2%80%93-2/
https://whyislam.wordpress.com/2010/08/10/meat-in-the-us-%e2%80%93-2/#respondTue, 10 Aug 2010 17:56:33 +0000http://whyislam.wordpress.com/?p=436]]>This is part 2 of investigating meat produced in the US. I will be discussing a few more points related the topic. You can see part 1 here.

1. But what if we know that the people of the book do not say ‘Bism Allah’ when slaughtering.

Ibn Abd Al Bar gave a consensus ruling that the people of the book if the do not say the name of Allah on the zabeeha, their zabeehah is lawful because saying Bism Allah is not a condition of the zabeehah of the people of the book.

Aisha (May Allah be pleased with her) said to the prophet (pbuh): “People bring us meat which we don’t know if they mentioned the name of Allah on it or not. The prophet (pbuh) said: “Say Bism Allah and eat”.

From the above Hadeeth, we conclude that the zabihah of the Muslim and the people of the book is lawful and this is the base.
فالمسلم والكتابي ذبيحتهم مباحة، وهذا هو الأصل .

IslamQA answers: “Depending on what was said, if a person travels to a non-Muslim country and the majority of which are Christains or jews then they can eat from their Zabihahs UNLESS if it’s known that they electecute the Zabihah or mention other than the name of Allah.

In the Saheeh, Abdullah Bin Al Moghaffal (May Allah be pleased with him) said: a container of meat fat was lowered down at the day of Khaibar so I put my arms around it and said: I will not give this today to anyone. I turned around and it was the prophet (p.b.u.h) smiling.

The interview includes: the high level of respect that the US founding fathers had for Islam and the prophet of Islam, the sterotypes of Islam and Muslims (race and appearance).

]]>https://whyislam.wordpress.com/2010/08/08/america-and-islam-the-interview/feed/0WhyIslamMeat in the US – 1https://whyislam.wordpress.com/2010/08/07/meat-in-the-us-1/
https://whyislam.wordpress.com/2010/08/07/meat-in-the-us-1/#commentsSat, 07 Aug 2010 19:48:51 +0000http://whyislam.wordpress.com/?p=426]]>The goal of these few paragraphs is to investigate two arguments relating to the meat that is produced in the United States; I will try to gather evidence to support those arguments.

The two arguments argued are:

The meat (categorically lawful to Muslims) in the US is slaughtered by cutting the artery.

The US is a Christian nation (from a population standpoint not a constitutional standpoint).

1. The meat in the US is indeed slaughtered by cutting the artery.

This is probably a difficult point to argue as there are clear violations to any rule and violation incidents tend to spread faster than the rule. However, this is the law as it stands. According to the US HSA (Humane Slaughter Act which is somewhat vaguely defined in this link but is clarified through the entry on Slaughterhouses), all animals must be slaughtered humanely which basically includes the following steps:

Start reference:

Cattle are rendered unconscious by applying an electric shock of 300 volts and 2 amps to the back of the head, effectively stunning the animal,or by use of a captive bolt pistol to the front of the cow’s head (a pneumatic or cartridge-fired captive bolt). Swine can be rendered unconscious by CO2/inert gas stunning. (This step is prohibited under strict application of Halal and Kashrut codes.)

Animals are hung upside down by both of their hind legs on the processing line.

The carotid artery and jugular vein are severed with a knife, blood drains, causing death through exsanguination.

The head is removed, as well as front and rear feet. Prior to hide removal, care is taken to cut around the digestive tract to prevent fecal contamination later in the process.

All approved method of slaughter aim to induce surgical anesthesia on the animals before being slaughtered (if you are still reading, you might have some questions about this link) There probably are and will be exceptions to the law but they would still be exceptions.

2. The US is a Christian nation (from a population standpoint not a constitutional standpoint).

According to the 2008 census, 76 % of American’s self identified themselves as Christians which would lead that the majority of the American population is in fact christian.

Allah (s.w.t) says in the Quran that: (Surat Ma2eda): “Made lawful to you this day are At-Tayyibât [all kinds of Halâl (lawful) foods, which Allâh has made lawful (meat of slaughtered eatable animals, milk products, fats, vegetables and fruits)]. The food (slaughtered cattle, eatable animals) of the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) is lawful to you and yours is lawful to them. (Lawful to you in marriage) are chaste women from the believers and chaste women from those who were given the Scripture (Jews and Christians) before your time when you have given their due Mahr (bridal-money given by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage), desiring chastity (i.e. taking them in legal wedlock) not committing illegal sexual intercourse, nor taking them as girl-friends. And whosoever disbelieves in Faith [i.e. in the Oneness of Allâh and in all the other Articles of Faith i.e. His (Allâh’s) Angels, His Holy Books, His Messengers, the Day of Resurrection and Al-Qadar (Divine Preordainments)], then fruitless is his work; and in the Hereafter he will be among the losers.”

]]>https://whyislam.wordpress.com/2010/08/07/meat-in-the-us-1/feed/1WhyIslamMeat in the US – Introhttps://whyislam.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/meat-in-the-us-intro/
https://whyislam.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/meat-in-the-us-intro/#respondFri, 06 Aug 2010 19:33:55 +0000http://whyislam.wordpress.com/?p=424]]>I lived in the US for some time now. During my stay here, I confronted (like many Muslims) some debatable issues. These issues range from sighting the moon, eating meat, invetsing and finance, etc. The topic of this discussion is meat produced in the US. I have talked to different Imam’s about the meat that is produced here in the US (in your regular Stop & Shop). Unfortunately, none of the Imam’s I talked to had a detailed knowledge of the regulations and the guidelines of the meat that is produced here. So I decided to compile any information I could find to help make the discussion more factual. My goal is not to legistalte but rather to collect facts. So this is the start of this series. Please feel free to add any thoughts, opions, etc.

Stay tuned..

]]>https://whyislam.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/meat-in-the-us-intro/feed/0WhyIslamTeaching Arabic ALphabetshttps://whyislam.wordpress.com/2009/10/17/teaching-arabic-alphabets/
https://whyislam.wordpress.com/2009/10/17/teaching-arabic-alphabets/#commentsSat, 17 Oct 2009 11:52:42 +0000http://whyislam.wordpress.com/?p=418]]>A new style of teaching Arabic. It uses mnemonics to help the students remember the alphabets. While it’s different than the traditional way of teaching Arabic letters, it’s a noteworthy alternative especially for older students and new Muslims learning Arabic alphabets. You can buy the DVD from the link of their page.